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staty of mania f atthrr and the iiwrwwt tree fir men front mbtoskaaaae e night so by the sight of wend c saarknag the aaoonegnt tut he if tinned b his hrft and tried to uremi r the oarnaorabfc scene for his fa- may be chose a small ever- itnfc tree and to the reflections of the starlit heavens he atta t ob ber of kff canrtlrs christ- trees of coarse did not became fy ants jeers b christmos birthdays bring fame to some sports a young fanners wife in eagjbnd gave birth to a son in 14c in tt2t a baby gni was born in the massachusetts v- tage of oxford in l5 the wife of a nustani christian crusader gave birth to her fourth daughter and in 1183 m paris aa artists model bore a baby boy what did these four births hare in common in each case the child was born on christ mas oay and grew up to be come a famous person these wet known christmas bab ies were sir isaac newton clara barton evangeline booth and maurice utritto cwa barton american ci vil war nurse was bora 00 christmas day in is21 it was her warm thoughts of christ mas that led her when she set off to visit her brother a pris oner during the war to offer to take presents not only to htm but to the prisoner rejathr- cs of all her oxford mass- neighbors subsequently clara barton was bktrmnental in founding the american fted cross and served as its president for nan- years ims evangeline booth was the fourth daughter of the salvation army founder wb- ham booth by the age of 23 she was head of the salvation army in lonrtnn and in 1904 the took over operations for the entire tinted states curing world war i the sat ration amy lassies under her jurisdiction spent christmas as well as many other days- ministering to the needs of american doughboys in france the word doughboy stems from the celebra salvation army of that time had little ch in his life on holidays or otherwise this was the french painter maur ice fjtriuo born on december 25 iis son of an unknown father and a mother who was a mo del for many of the mont- martre brush wklders of her tijne young maurice was shy and withdrawn not only in childhood but throughout his kfe ironkally reproduction of many of his paintings particu larly those of the sparkling white dome of the montmartre church of sacre coeur are us ed by the thousands every year on christmas cards french observance many french homes have not only the christmas tree but as well the traditional creche or manger scene popu lated with terra cotta figures called santons midnight mass is a tradition with french ca tholics and when they return home they take part in the reveitton an elaborate feast of many courses before retiring french children place their shoes near the fireplace in ant- toipation of a visit from pere noel- may christmas bring you all the joys of the season and all the wannsatisf actions ofnoftiencwupwethankyou forypor generosit daring the past year i j iii p fhwcrs bmst hrt mm at mt of jests tm flowers burst into bloom and trees and shrubs were green with new leaves on the night of the savtous birth so legend says down through the ages certain flowers and greens have held an honored place in the lore of christmas the holly and the ivy mistle toe rosemary the christmas rose the thorn tree ancient peoples believed that mistletoe had powers to ward off evil or cure a variety of illnesses druid priests of britain long ago believed that mistletoe should be cut with a golden knife then hung over doorways as a protection from evil the greeks too used it to ward off evil on of the many legends sur rounding the poinsettia tells of a poor mexican girl who hav ing no gift of value humbly placed some roadside weeds at the foot of a statue represent ing the virgin and child in stantly the weeds became scarlet blossoms and thus so the legend says the poinsettia was created rosemary the symbol of constancy was at one time widely used in england as a jerusalem cherry flowering plants are ideal for christmas and one of the more brilliant and less expen sive pot plants is the jerusa lem cherry its round red fruit is especially appropriate for the holiday season it needs bright light and likes a cool temperature no higher man 55 degrees at night for best re sults although it does ad mirably even with a 65 degree night temperature if the plant is allowed to wilt or if cook ing gas fumes fill the air the fruit will drop christmas decoration during the victorian era k tost popu larity and is now seldom if ever seen as part of the yule- tide greenery an old story my that the fragrance of rosemary was giv en to it when mary placed the christ childs garments on this shrub like mistletoe the brightly berried holly was early credit ed with magical and medical powers it could even legend said tell girls the name of their future husbands tub good witch it is on january e the feast of the epiphany and not on christmas eve that ttalun children place their shoes by the fireplace the shoes are placed in anticipation of the arrival of befana the good witch who comes down the chimney on abroom to all the shoes left out for her tweets for the good youngsters coal tn the shoes of the naughty the- tia but ed to faanfjyf map may all karlgathof aic mtrlr and son ftadb ft tv service ix acton shepherd maiden r shepherds are familiar fig ures in christmas stories and xarols such as while shep herds watched their flocks by night more novel but equal ly established in tradition is the story of the shepherdess who visited the stable on the first christmas night dou vienstu bergerer or whence come you shepherd mai den was brought to can ada in the 17th century by ear y french settlers in the ca rol a questioner asks the shepherdess where she has been and what she has seen and she in turn describes the manger scene the to yaa aoas yea ativt s allans ml 4 acton out gattywtcrppad prasants that christmas inspires fining us haring with thfe thought in you tha good will and good acton hydro